Author's Notes:

Surprise! Extra chapter for the week! Enjoy!

Chapter 117

Choice

Ruby stared out at the park tiredly. Her body still hurt even though the injuries from the night were only memories now.

"Why does this happen between every night?" she asked softly, glancing at where her parents were getting ice cream nearby. "Does he like tormenting me with what I've lost?"
Timmy faded into view.

"Your mind is trying to give you something nice to counteract all the terrible stuff that happens at night. If you wanted to, you could stay in this place," he admitted. "You don't have to go back to Nightmare every night."
Her father caught her eye and grinned widely, waving the ice cream in his hand. "Almost done princess!" he yelled and her mom rolled her eyes, smacking him lightly as she paid.

"If I stayed, I'd be stuck in a lie forever," Ruby answered dully. "I wouldn't ever be able to get out would I?"
Timmy was silent for a moment. "No… You wouldn't."

"I need to get back to the pizzeria."

They both lapsed into silence for a moment before Timmy broke it.

"I was tempted to stay, when Nightmare had me," he admitted quietly. "I think I hid in the memories too long even if I did go back for the nights eventually."
"What did you see? What were your happy memories?" Ruby asked idly. She'd already picked up the obvious trend in hers. Her parents, alive and happy.

"My family," Timmy whispered. "Before Michael turned cruel. Or at least before he showed that side of him. Before Lizzy died. Before Charlotte died. When we were happy." Timmy cracked a weak and distracted smile. "Goldy was there. And Puppet and Spring. Puppet laughed more back then."

"Seeing your family happy is tempting," Ruby admitted. "It weakens your resolve to get back. I think you're wrong Timmy."
The boy looked at her in confusion.
"I think Nightmare has everything to do with this. Because seeing that happiness and refusing it breaks you in a different way."

She slid off the bench and made her way over to her parents. Despite knowing it was a temptation, it was so good to see them smiling like this again.

How about we go to Freddy's today?" Derrick mused, stretching as he pushed away the paperwork.

Ruby's breathing hitched slightly but they didn't notice. They never did. They didn't notice the way she stared at them too long or how she seemed too afraid to reach out to touch them.

"Did the paperwork beat you?" Rose asked, amused. She was knitting something, a blanket maybe. The design was a bit odd. Ruby didn't remember the blanket consciously at all. Usually the stuff her mom made for her had cute Freddy's designs on them. This one had dancers and ballerinas all over though. It looked like her mom was busy on a letter now. Maybe an 'I' or 'H'?

"I'm performing a strategic retreat," Derrick huffed. He stood up and in a few steps he'd scooped Ruby up into his arms, grabbing her attention again. "How about my princess saves me from the evil paperwork huh?" he whispered conspiratorially.

Ruby couldn't help but giggle and nod. She caught a glimpse of Timmy in the corner before her dad carried her out of the room.

Freddy's looked the same and yet so different. The bots were exactly like she remembered them.

She noticed how the manager paled upon spotting her father though as her mother encouraged her to go and play.

"Alistair thinks I should stop bringing Ruby here," Derrick admitted to Rose.

"And why is that? Ruby loves the bots. She'd throw a temper tantrum of epic proportions if she didn't get to see them anymore."
"You know why Rose."

"Our girl's too smart to fall for anyone's tricks Derrick. She'll be fine."

She was quiet for a moment and Ruby wondered if her mind was making up this conversation or if it was a real one she subconsciously recalled.

"Is this about Jeremy?" Rose asked.

Derrick sighed heavily. "I mentioned bringing Ruby here and he about had a meltdown, Rose. He hates this place. Understandable but still… I worry about him. He's so desperate to leave it all in the past…"

"That's how some people handle trauma honey. They want to forget it."

Ruby didn't hear the rest, wandering off to Pirate's Cove.

"Are you going to stay?" Timmy asked, sitting next to her on the deck of the ship in the Cove.

Ruby was quiet and Timmy didn't push.

"I think I stayed for two months," the ghost admitted. "Then I went back for my last night."
"You lost." It wasn't a question.
"I lost," he agreed anyway.

"Do you regret leaving your happy place?"

"Sometimes. It was a lot easier to just forget and pretend I was still happy."
"But you were still pretending."
"Yeah."

Ruby left him on the ship when Foxy called for the start of a treasure hunt.

"Did you have fun sweetheart?" Rose asked as they left the pizzeria, Ruby's hand tucked into her own.

Ruby nodded and her parents started chatting between themselves again. Ruby stared up at the sky, trying to find a seam or stitch to this false reality.

She was searching all the way home.

"This place reacts to what I want doesn't it?" Ruby asked Timmy as she stared up at the sunset from her backyard. "I wanted to go back to the pizzeria, so it pulled up a memory of me going there."
Timmy nodded silently from next to her.

"But it's only memories. It can't make something entirely new."

He nodded again. "Are memories enough?" he asked.

Ruby didn't answer.

"Are you going to stay?" Timmy asked again. Ruby was sitting with her parents at the dinner table, playing with her food instead of eating it.

"It's tempting," Ruby stilled, staring down at her food.

Her parents continued talking to each other about their day.

"It is," Timmy whispered sadly.

"It's hard to resist temptation forever."

Timmy's silence was her only answer. He watched as tears slipped down Ruby's face and splashed into her food.

"Why did you come with me Timmy?" she asked, ignoring the tears. "You're afraid of Nightmare."
"I am," he whispered. "But I didn't want him to get you too."

"If I stayed, he wouldn't be able to get me."

No answer.

"The chances of winning in a place he controls are slim."
Timmy stayed silent.

Ruby let out a sharp sigh.

"Ruby, are you alright? Are you feeling sick?" Rose asked in worry.

Ruby looked up at them and smiled. It was a pained smile.

"You're dead," her voice cracked and so did the world.

Suddenly they were on a dark road.

"What did you do?" Timmy asked in alarm as headlights flared to life on the road ahead of them. He panicked gripping the seat that barely even existed to him.

"Took away temptation," Ruby answered, a flicker of her older self in her voice. She frowned, something was off. Something was different. Where was the rain-

There was a crash and screams and Ruby squeezed her eyes shut as red flooded her vision. She heard her own screams and sobs and pleas fill the night air.

"Mommy! Daddy! Please!"

"I'd rather die than live in some fake reality. I won't let Nightmare use my parents like that. But even I'm not strong enough to say no to that happiness when I know I'm just going back to more pain," her voice broke. "I'm only human."

"Please say something…"

"Interesting choice," a dark voice said from behind them and her breathing hitched while Timmy stiffened.

"Please!"

"Fuck off Nightmare," Ruby forced her eyes open and stared at the scene in front of her. Mangled metal and dripping blood. The image seared itself into her mind again, wiping away that childish hope of seeing her parents again as she listened to her own sobs.

"This place gives me what I want. I wanted this memory." Her voice wavered and she couldn't tell if the sobs and pleas really came from her or the memory of her voice itself, bouncing around the small space like it was clawing for its own freedom. "I've never been one for dwelling in the past."

Nightmare laughed, the sound echoing in the night as sirens drew closer. Ruby stared dully at the red staining everything, tears silently tracking down her cheeks. And then everything went dark.